LEGENDARY athlete Tessa Sanderson flagged off the winter series of the City of London West Ham Park 5k run on Sunday.

More than 50 runners from all age groups took part in the run which was won by summer season winner Igor Cojusneanu with a timing of 17 minutes 49 seconds.

Muhammad Tariq was a distant second with a timing of 20.12, while James Whittington finished in third spot in 21.14.

Ilona Bagi of Serpentine Running Club finished in first place in the women’s 5k run with a time of 22.17 as Jane Ithier-Aimee came home in second place clocking 26.08. Annika Norton completed the run in third place in 26.23.

Andrew Wallin came first in the men’s over-40 category clocking 20.33, while Kenneth Barrett (24.27) and Alvin White (24.39) finished in second and third place respectively.

In the women’s over-35 category Laura Williams came home as the first female runner clocking 20.27. Sharon Springfield of East London Runners was second with 21. 53 and Eva Szenok took 25.45 to finish the run in third spot.

This is the third edition of the West Ham Park Run, which will consist of series of 10 Sunday runs at motivating runners and preparing them to take part in the Newham Classic 10k scheduled to be held on April 10, 2011.

The next run will be held this Sunday, November 28.